21 July 2025

• Parliament: Monsoon Session 2025 begins today (21 July to 21 August). First session after Operation Sindoor. Government agreed to a debate on the operation. 17 bills on the agenda.
• Economy: IMF ranked India the world's top fast payment system with a FPAS score of 87.5 per cent. UPI processed 18.39 billion transactions in June 2025.
• Science: India's indigenous two-stage malaria vaccine AdFalciVax, stable at room temperature for 9-plus months, is under development by ICMR.
• Heritage: The Guryul Ravine fossil site in Kashmir documents the world's oldest tsunami record at the Permian-Triassic boundary, 260 million years ago.
• Archaeology: Excavations at Marungur in Tamil Nadu found 95 artefacts including Tamil-Brahmi potsherds, marking an Iron Age to Early Historic transition site.

GS area: Polity (Parliament, parliamentary procedure)

The Monsoon Session of Parliament began on 21 July 2025 and will run through 21 August 2025, comprising 21 sittings.

• Bills on agenda: 17 bills, including the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill 2025, National Sports Governance Bill 2025 and Merchant Shipping Bill 2024.
• Operation Sindoor debate: The government agreed to a debate on Operation Sindoor, responding to the opposition's demand. This is the first session since the India-Pakistan military confrontation of May 2025.
• Digital attendance: Multimedia Device-based digital attendance begins this session.
• Constitutional basis: No constitutional requirement for minimum sessions. Convention holds three sessions (Budget, Monsoon and Winter). Article 85 requires Parliament to be summoned at least twice a year with no more than 6 months between sessions.
• Question Hour: The Monsoon Session's first day reserves time for questions on government functioning, including security matters.

Static linkage: Polity (Parliament, Article 85, parliamentary sessions, Question Hour).

GS area: Economy (digital payments), Governance

The IMF report on fast payment systems ranked India first globally with a FPAS (Fast Payment Access Score) of 87.5 per cent.

• Monthly transactions: UPI processed 18.39 billion transactions in June 2025.
• Daily volume: 640 million daily transactions across 675 banks.
• Users: 491 million individuals and 65 million merchants.
• Transaction speed: Settlement in approximately 5 seconds.
• Cost: Near-zero transaction cost for users.
• International reach: UPI operates in 7 countries including France, UAE and Singapore.
• Challenges: Low offline penetration, data privacy gaps and weak dispute resolution infrastructure.

Static linkage: Economy (digital payments, UPI, financial inclusion, NPCI).

GS area: Governance (regulatory framework), Infrastructure

The Air India crash in Ahmedabad in June 2025 prompted review of India's civil aviation safety framework.

• Scale of market: India is the third-largest domestic aviation market globally. Over 350 million passengers annually.
• Green airports: Only 80 of India's airports operate on green energy.
• Women pilots: India has 13 to 18 per cent women pilots, among the highest globally.
• Safety gaps identified: Regulatory weakness in DGCA oversight, airspace encroachment risk, pilot fatigue standards, maintenance oversight and ATC staff shortages.
• DGCA: Directorate General of Civil Aviation is India's aviation regulator.

Static linkage: Governance (regulatory bodies, DGCA, aviation safety), infrastructure.

GS area: Science and Technology (biotechnology, health)

ICMR, RMRC-Bhubaneswar, NIMR and DBT-NII are jointly developing AdFalciVax, India's indigenous two-stage malaria vaccine.

• Target: Plasmodium falciparum, the most lethal malaria parasite species.
• Two-stage immunity: Triggers immune responses at both the pre-erythrocytic stage (preventing liver invasion) and erythrocytic stage (reducing blood-stage infection).
• Thermostability: Stable at room temperature for over 9 months. This is critical for field deployment in rural areas without cold chain infrastructure.
• Production method: Uses the food-grade bacterium Lactococcus lactis as the expression system.

Static linkage: Science and technology (vaccines, malaria, biotechnology, ICMR).

GS area: Science and Technology (geology, palaeontology), History

The Guryul Ravine fossil site in Kashmir preserves a 3-metre-thick boundary section at the Permian-Triassic boundary, 260 million years old.

• Significance: Documents the world's oldest recorded tsunami. The "Great Dying" mass extinction event (end of Permian period) wiped out about 96 per cent of marine species.
• Comparative scale: The Guryul Ravine section is larger than the reference Meishan site in China.
• Threats: Quarrying and land diversion are damaging the site.
• Dating technique: The researchers used AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) carbon dating.

Static linkage: Science and technology (geology, mass extinctions, palaeontology), environment (fossil site conservation).

GS area: International Relations (food standards), Governance

The Codex Alimentarius Commission is the joint FAO-WHO body for international food safety standards.

• Establishment: 1963.
• Function: Sets science-based food safety standards recognised by the WTO as the benchmark for trade dispute resolution.
• India's role: India chairs the Codex Committee on Spices and led development of the international millet standard, commercially significant given India's millet promotion push.
• Legal significance: WTO Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement treats Codex standards as the legitimate baseline. Countries deviating from Codex standards must scientifically justify their requirements.

Static linkage: International relations (FAO, WHO, WTO, SPS Agreement), governance (food safety).

GS area: History (ancient India, archaeology)

Excavations at Marungur in Panruti taluk, Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu uncovered 95 artefacts from an Iron Age to Early Historic transition site.

• Finds: Tamil-Brahmi potsherds (pottery with early Tamil script inscriptions), iron implements, conch shells and jasper beads.
• Techniques used: UAV (drone) mapping, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), AMS carbon dating and phytolith analysis.
• Significance: A rare site that combines habitation and burial evidence from the Iron Age into the Early Historic period. Tamil-Brahmi is one of the earliest writing systems in South India.

Static linkage: History (ancient India, Tamil civilisation, Iron Age archaeology).

• Kashi Declaration: A national roadmap against drug abuse, targeting "Nasha Mukt Yuva" as a foundation for Viksit Bharat 2047. Youth-led and spiritually rooted. Integrated with the MY Bharat platform.
• Biostimulants regulation: The fertiliser control order FCO 1985 framework now mandates toxicity and eco-safety testing for biostimulants. Market value is 410 million dollars (2025), projected at 1.13 billion by 2032. Only 650 products are registered from an estimated 30,000-plus on the market.